Fundamental to learning any language is becoming familiar with how to talk about days, weeks, months, and years. Mastering how to communicate about the calendar is an important elementary milestone when learning how to communicate in a new language and gives learners the ability to express when exactly an event took place (or will do).
Read on for more information about how to talk about the German months of the year, days of the week, and different seasons, as well as the best time of the year to visit Germany.
German Months of the year
What are the German months?
To start at the beginning, the German word for month is Monat (mor-nart), plural Monate (mor-nart-a). Speakers of English and (certain other languages) might be relieved to see that the list of months in German doesn’t look too dissimilar from what they already know, but it is important to master both the exact spelling and pronunciation of the German month names, which will likely be quite different.
The German months of the year are spelt and pronounced as follows:
- Januar (yah-noo-ahr) - January
- Februar ( fay-broo-ahr) - February
- März (mehrtz) - March
- April (ah-pril) - April
- Mai (my) - May
- Juni (yoo-nee) - June
- Juli (yoo-lee) - July
- August (ow-goost) - August
- September (zehp-tehm-ber) - September
- Oktober (ok-toh-ber) - October
- November (no-vehm-ber) - November
- Dezember (de-tsem-ber) - December
If you want to indicate that an event occurs in a certain month, use the word im: im Januar (in January). Abbreviations of the months are expressed with the first three letters of the full name, e.g. the September abbreviation is "Sep".
See our German Alphabet page for a more specific guide on how certain letters in words are pronounced.
German days of the week
The days of the week or Wochentage (see below for exact translation) are written and pronounced as so:
- Montag (mohn-tahk) - Monday
- Dienstag (deens-tahk) - Tuesday
- Mittwoch (mit-vock) - Wednesday
- Donnerstag (don-ers-tahk) - Thursday
- Freitag (fry-tahk) - Friday
- Samstag (or less often, Sonnabend) (zahms-tahk) - Saturday
- Sonntag (zon-tahk) - Sunday
Workdays and weekends in Germany
We said above that Wochentage means days of the week, which is true, but be careful: this is often used to describe weekdays, meaning Monday to Friday. This can also be expressed with the phrase unter der Woche (under the week), whereas working days are known specifically as Arbeitstage or Werktage, which usually also refer to the Mon-Fri schedule. The word for weekend in Germany is Wochenende.
All days of the week are masculine nouns in German: der Montag. To say that an event takes place on a certain day, precede the day with am: Am Dienstag (on Tuesday).
How are dates written in Germany?
In Germany, dates are written in the Day.Month.Year. format. This is in contrast to America, where dates are usually written in the Month.Day.Year format, or “October 25th, 2020,” In Germany this would be written as 25.10.2020, most often with points between the numbers, not slashes.
German seasons
What are the seasons in German?
The German spring runs from March to May. Summer is from June through to August, and Autumn is during the months of September, October, and November. German winters are between December and February. The German clock and calendar does adhere to the rules of daylight savings.
How to spell and pronounce the seasons in German:
- Frühling (frew-ling) - spring
- Sommer (zom-mer) - summer
- Herbst (hehrpst) - autumn
- Winter (vin-ter) - winter
What is the weather like in Germany all year round?
The weather in Germany is generally very seasonal. Summers are warm to hot, and winter, especially in the north-east, can be very cold, but this does vary over the relatively large nation. For example, northwestern and coastal Germany have a maritime climate, with cloudy, mild winters and warm summers.
The weather can also be quite changeable, especially in spring: be aware of the saying April, April, er macht, was er will (April, April, it does what it wants).
What is the best time to visit Germany?
Germany is less crowded during the spring months of March to May and late October to November. In particular, April and late October are crowd free and less expensive for visitors. The cheapest time for air fares, resort stays, and hotel rooms is between mid-January to mid-March.
What is the hottest month in Germany?
The hottest months in Germany are the summer months from June to August. The spring months of March, April, and May are milder and can be rainy.
